Olympic Results 2012: Danell Leyva Showed Great Determination in Comeback

In a highly competitive event, Danell Leyva earned an Olympic bronze medal in the gymnastics individual all-around competition.

After a disappointing team competition, the United States set its hopes on Levya and John Orozco to win an individual medal. Through two rotations, that seemed out of the question.

Both Americans struggled on the pommel horse, with neither competitor topping a score of 13.500. Orozco slightly improved in the next few events, but Leyva continued to underperform.

The Cuban native's performance on the pommel horse ranked 19th in the field, his ring routine was 14th and nine other competitors had better scores on the vault. While it is not necessary to win every event, none of these scores were reminiscent of an Olympic medalist.

Fortunately, Leyva did not quit. With a host of skilled competitors above him in the standings, he put on his two best performances to date with an amazing routine on both the parallel bars and the horizontal bar. He finished with the top scores on each apparatus and narrowly reached the medal stand. 

Expectations were high for Leyva. He is a world champion on parallel bars, and he won the all-around competition at the U.S. Olympic trials.

After finishing the qualifying round with the most points, those hopes to medal grew. Leyva did his job by working his way to a bronze medal.

In a sport that makes it easy to lose focus, he showed incredible determination.

The chance for gold went out the window almost immediately when Japan's Kohei Uchimura showed why he is one of the best gymnasts of all time. The three-time world champ got a great lead in the beginning and never looked back.

As for the rest of the field, there were not many mistakes among the top contenders, as all were prepared to medal. However, Leyva remained confident in his abilities in the final two events, and it paid off with a great finish.

If he can replicate his final performance, the American could add a gold medal to his trophy case from the horizontal bar finals. We know any other result will not be due to a lack of focus or determination. 

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